Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force General Dan Caine, president of the joint-state state, made a visit not announced to Puerto Rico on Monday (8), while the US army intensifies their efforts against drug trafficking in the Caribbean.
Hegseth broadcast a message from President Donald Trump to 300 soldiers at the Muñiz Air Guard base, near San Juan, according to a statement by the Governor of Puerto Rico, Jenniffer González Colón. The US Army is sending 10 F-35 fighters from the Naval Marine Corps to Puerto Rico after an incident last week when military jets when military Venezuelans flew over a US Navy vessel in international waters.
“We thank President Trump and his administration for recognizing Puerto Rico’s strategic importance for US National Security and his fight against drug cartels and drugstore Nicolás Maduro,” said González Colón in his statement.
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The governor stated that the increase in the fight against drug trafficking in the hemisphere reinforces the strategic value of the location of Puerto Rico.
“We are the US border with the Caribbean,” he said.
The visit of Hegseth and Caine, who was not previously announced by the Pentagon, occurs after a US military attack that killed what authorities said was a drug trafficking boat carrying 11 alleged “terrorist” – an action that generated criticism for being an extrajudicial execution and a firm defense by Trump administration officers.
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Pentagon’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for commentary on the visit.
In his statement and a publication on social network X, González Colón referred to Hegseth as war secretary, using a title adopted by Trump and his pentagon head.
Last week, the president signed an executive order by stating that the “department of war” fits better into his vision of “peace through strength,” citing US military successes under the name used from 1789 to 1947. The order granted Hegseth the “additional secondary title” of war secretary – an apparent concession to the fact that Congress must approve legislation to formally rename the department.
